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 Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2025 1:14 am
I’m not as think as you drunk I am Graham gets sloshed in his private quarters after the past night's bad dream and reflection on his streak of bad luck. Xena pays him a visit.
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2025 2:09 am
   ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ warm, light, sad, happy, annoyed... drunk
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "I should rearrange the furniture in this room."
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > bedroom ◆◆ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ no one
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Chiara, Xena (not by name)
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ pajamas ◆◆ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴇᴀʀꜱ ➢ freya's theme
talking - thought
“Who designed a bookshelf like this?” He was standing on his bed facing the bookshelf that was built into the wall above the decorative headboard, grumbling purposefully slow with a pinch of irritation in his tone. Did the design look good? Yes. Was it functional? Not as functional as it could be. There was no other way to access it as the bed was about the same width of the shelving. He felt silly standing on his bed, like a child. Children jumped on beds, and he was neither a child nor interested in jumping. Graham’s hand was holding on to one column of it for support while he scanned the book spines for the one he was looking for. It was the one with a green cover and long title about Corthyr. Instead, he grabbed one about Luna after shifting the narrow neck of his liquor bottle carefully between the fingers of his other hand so that he could hold both at the same time. He jumped down to the floor in one piece and grinned with a little pride at still being so functional despite being oh so inebriated. There was a bottle before that one, but it had been less than half full and before he knew it it was empty. Whoever drank it -- totally not him -- made quick work of it. This one though, was not empty!
Returning to his spot on the floor at the foot of bed, he took a swig of his devil’ juice and set it down beside him. Once the familiar burning sensation passed, he opened his eyes and opened the book. He closed it, re-read the spine to remember what the title was, then opened it again, this time to a page with an illustration of Luna’s borders and major landmarks. It was one of the kingdoms he hadn’t gone to yet, but he had been to at least two of the surrounding ones. They were known for their night-blooming jasmines, which in his opinion was one of the more captivating floral scents he had smelled before. Graham wasn’t sure if the book would mention the flower in any great detail but he shrugged to himself with the understanding he would just have to find out.
He thought to go back up there and look a little harder for the Corthyr book but didn’t feel like making the trip up there again. He was already comfortable where he was sitting, on the floor and with his back against the thick, oversized down comforter that hung over. Graham was content with the idea of eventually passing out there once the mix of sleep and alcohol worked together. He felt the warm, tingling sensation reach across his limbs. ”About damn time.” He let out as he turned the pages until he found the table of contents. His blue eyes only got past the first couple chapter titles before his attention drifted away and to his thoughts. For as messed up as the Musique Invasion lesson was, Graham believed he fared better than most. The experience, though hard to watch, was not a surprise to him. He did participate, even if most of it was tending to Chiara and having their heart to heart about why their engagement failed. Two years ago, that broke him in ways not many were privy to and he seriously believed there was no coming back from it. He leaned his head back into the foot of the bed and closed his eyes. The thoughts in his brain found an existence through his voice and he let them slip past his lips in a sad, hushed tone. “How the hell do you fail two for two on the one thing you actually give more than two ******** about, you a*****e?”
He brought the bottle back to his lips and chuckled a little after putting it down. The stuff was good at drowning all of the dark noise out, at least for a little while. Graham and Chiara left that history lesson on good terms, and he was feeling better about it for the first time in a long time. Then, as if on queue, the universe blessed him with the finest, personally tailored nightmare where he was thrown into a third arrangement. That one too ended badly. He woke up feeling like he was punched in the gut with the revelation that even in his own dreams, he was going to continue being nothing more than a cautionary tale.
He made his peace with that detail two years ago and it was going to have to just deal with being put away every time it tried to stick its ugly head out for attention. There were more important matters at hand, like... temporary world peace, or the book that was still in his hand waiting to be read. Graham rested an elbow on his knee and focused his sights on the words on the page, making sure to read each word aloud one at a time. It would eventually take him along on the documented expedition through Luna and their most notable villages.
It was an unknown amount of time before there was a familiar rapping on his door. Graham looked up too fast from his book and to the door and was met with some dizziness. He laughed a little again while rubbing two fingers to the space between his eyebrows. There was only one person that could be and he grinned happily at the thought of them. He thought to just let them come in on their own but then pushed himself up to his feet because to do so would be bad manners and dammit, he wasn't going to be a bad host. He opened the door and leaned a bent arm onto the doorway. "Fancy meeting you here, Your Royal Highness.” He beamed down at her playfully, then moved out of the way. "Care to come in?”
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2025 7:59 pm
  
Strolling along the abandoned halls of the academy was creepy as all get out. Things creaked and moved in the oddest ways. The pictures seemed to watch any and every one that happened to cross them after hours. Well, all but one. The princess of Mars wasn’t bothered in the slightest by the spooks and ghouls that were sure to haunt the school she’d been sent to. Dressed in her usual attire of fitted black pants, knee high boots, and a cream top, she strolled through the building on her way to her destination. If anyone spotted her, well, she would deal with them then. Including the groundskeeper that she’d heard was one hell of a hardass about curfews and all that stupid, childish nonsense.
It wasn’t long before she slipped free of the main building and began crossing the grass. The moonlight was barely visible behind a few clouds that lingered in the night sky, giving her more shadows to hide in. Enjoying it, and the cooler air outside the confines of walls, Xena tipped her head back and looked up over the heavens. While she missed the heated nights of her home, she was starting to enjoy the school and what it offered. Not only was she meeting potential new allies, she had been reunited with a few of her closest comrades. A small group of select individuals. All chosen for the skills as well as their mutual respect with her. The thought had her chuckling softly at herself, knowing that was only true for two of them. The third, well, he had no choice.
Thinking of the man in question had her smiling softly. He was the reason she was out this late, stalking around the grounds. If it had been anyone else, even Bells and Sethos, she’d have told them to get over it. Hell, even her baby sister would have been ignored. Not that she didn’t love the girl. As much as she could love anyone, really. No, there was only one person in the world she’d spend her personal time with. That she’d willingly just hang out with under no false pretenses. The one man that knew everything about her and was still willing to put up with her crazy a**. The thought had her smile turning into an outright grin, memories of him having to do exactly that flooding her head as she turned down a path towards the dorms.
The stroll down memory lane helped eat up the rest of her time, ending with her at the door to her friend’s room. With a quick knock, she rocked on her heels and waited. Granted, she knew she couldn’t just strolled in, but she wanted to give him a chance to tell her to beat it. Not that she’d listen, of course. But, Xena was nothing if not willing to give people the opportunity to do the right thing first. Thankfully, for him anyway, he pulled open the door and looked down at her. The expression on his face, along with the way he spoke, had her shaking her head in amusement. Well, tonight was going to be fun.
”You’re already smashed, aren’t you?” Not needing to hear his answer to know it, she stepped past him and scanned the room. Sharp eyes caught the empty bottle on its side near his bed, along with the messed up sheets and his blanket tossed over the foot of the mattress. Had he been sleeping fitfully or jumping on the bed? In his current state, Xena knew it could be either. The book on the floor was a surprise, her body bending to pick it up. She examined the cover, dark brows furrowed a bit in question as she turned to look at him.
”Got a sudden interest in Luna, Ducky?” Using the name she'd given him as a child, she grinned at him before flipping through the pages herself. ”Never figured you to be a man of the moonlight.” She teased him a bit before snapping the book closed, handing it out to him as she looked over his tipsy form. She was tempted to push, to figure out the truth behind his decision to get smashed, but she left it alone. He’d tell her, eventually. He always did.
”Where’s the current bottle? Might as well join you, since drinking alone is just sad.”
Location: Academy grounds - Graham’s dorm Company: Ducky Thoughts: ‘I wonder what’s up…’
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 8:39 pm
   ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ warm, light, happy... drunk
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "How.. how did she know about the second bottul"
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > bedroom
ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Xena
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ no one
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ pajamas
talking - thought
There wasn’t much he could get past Xena, not that he often tried. His satisfied grin remained unchanged to her question and he slowly shifted his shoulders into a shrug before she walked in. ”And if I were?” He asked while closing his door, then turned to catch her looking around his space. The time that passed between the last time they met up and the present was nothing to complain about but seeing her there, finally at the inaptly named Utopia Academy, was always a welcomed sight. ”Nice of you to not leave me to fend for myself in this dump.” Graham took a lean against his dresser as he teased her over her unimportant tardiness, but couldn’t help to feel pleased that wasn’t really the case. The orders from his king were for him to attend and while he played the role of an inconvenienced noble for the b*****d, he was fine with the arrangement. If the criteria were the same for all the kingdoms in the realm, he had an idea of what type of people to expect. He also knew, at least for a couple of kingdoms, who to expect. Blue eyes kept on Xena partially out of old habits, partially out of keeping a focal point while the sensation of floating passed between his ears.
A silent chuckle escaped him as his friend called him by the sentimental nickname and about the book. Though rarely repeated by others, it never sounded right rolling off of anyone else’s lips, never as fun in her voice and annunciation. ”I couldn’t find the one on Corthyr I wanted and I think– I think…” He trailed off momentarily. “I left it at home.” He honestly wasn’t sure, and believed himself to be too inebriated to really think about it beyond his current speculation.
”But! If I were trying to, Warrior Princess,” Graham approached her from behind and lightly rested his upper arms over her shoulders. He leaned his head in and over Xena’s to watch her and the book as she flipped through it’s contents, the hummed a little before he spoke up again. ”Don’t you think I’d be one of the best looking ones from there?” The court of Luna was there, but who composed it he did not know. He had his guesses. While not meant to be taken seriously, he was confident his words about being the more appealing Lunarian could still stand on their own if challenged. Graham plucked the book from her and shuffled to his night stand where he put it down. ”Yooouu would have had the time of your life, my deeer Xena. The history class is– it was– it felt as real as right now.” If there was a word to describe what the representation of a real-world environment one could become enmeshed with and learn from, it slipped his mind or he didn’t know it. Whether the book made it back to its stupid bookshelf was to be determined at a later time.
He combed his hair back with his fingers and turned to face her and her question about his current bottle. Graham pulled his head back and looked at Xena, as if he were offended by her insinuation that there had been another bottle. ”You– you wound me, I’m not that–… hold on.” They both knew where he was going with that lie. No where fast.
He muttered a rhetorical ask of where he left the bottle, only to reveal it after he shifted the half-hanging comforter. An ‘ah-hah’ escaped him and he picked it up, then waved the same hand that held the bottle at her and her words. ”Bah, it’s not all that bad. The peace an’ quiet is better sometimes.” With the cork out, he took a swig before holding it out to her to take. ”I don’t have t’ say where you stand with me on that though.” The things Xena privileged him to see were carried close to his chest, never to see the light of day if he could help it. She was that to him for the same reasons, for things not even people from home knew about. Like the bottle, a lot of things were shared between them. Time, personal space, cover stories created on the fly, just to name a few. Even when it wasn’t couth when you factored in that she was betrothed to someone else. It was a struggle to feel bad about that. Graham flashed her a grin as natural as their friendship felt.
”Did you run into trouble getting here?
OOC:
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2025 10:15 pm
   LOCATION: Graham’s dorm xxx COMPANY: Drunk Ducky xxx CLOTHING: Xena’s outfit
"Speaking #7900ac""Thinking #7900ac"
The sight of his grin had her own spreading over her lips. He was a silly drunk, and even cuter than normal. With her, he let his guard down. With her and the alcohol, well, there were no limits for her Ducky. He was a sight to behold and she rather enjoyed being one of the few privy to this side of him. Even with his teasing words, Xena knew the night was sure to be an interesting one. Of course, that wasn’t going to stop her from teasing him right back. With a roll of her eyes, she huffed out a breath and waved a hand absently in the air. As if the words had been buzzing flies around her head, nothing more than pests to be swatted away with the flick of her wrist.
”Like I would just leave you to deal with the prissy and the privileged.” Tutting her tongue at him, she flipped through the book in her hand a bit more. His comment on the book he had been searching for pulled her focus to the endless tomes that lined his wall. The green spine was like a sore thumb, bright and obvious amongst the many around it. She swallowed a giggle and made a mental note to pull the book for him before they both crashed. It was inevitable, especially with the amount of alcohol he had already consumed. Just a matter of when, Xena mused to herself as she flipped another page in the book.
The sound of his footsteps stilled her hands for a moment, as did the weight of his arms around her shoulders. He was close, his body brushing over hers as he called her by not only her title but the teasing name he had given her when she’d dubbed him Ducky. Gods, she’d missed him. Missed his laugh, his voice. The way his eyes would soften whenever they shared an inside joke or he caught her looking at him when she had thought he wouldn’t. The man was a menace, but he was the one soul in the world that she could be herself completely with. Not even her sister held that title, having hidden so much from Rah to keep the girl from being traumatized alongside her. Granted, that hadn’t helped much after her abduction, but Xena tried not to focus on that.
”Yes, yes, you would be the prettiest girl at the party, Ducky. No man in this kingdom, or any other, can hold a candle to you.” His sneaky grab of the book had a soft sound of disapproval passing her lips, her body turning to look at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. She had been reading that! The expression on her face only darkened when he mentioned the class she’d missed out on. Irritation and disappointment took over, turning her lips into a pout as she turned away from him. She didn’t want to talk about that. She’d already done enough sulking over her missed opportunity.
”You’ll have to regale me with your prowess during the simulation when you can actually walk a straight line. For now, let it go. I’m already irate enough without having to be reminded by your tipsy self.” Her voice lacked the heat that it would have carried with anyone else. It was replaced with the disheartening tone that echoed from her features, a side of her only reserved for him. Of course, it was only for a few moments before she snapped back into gear and rolled her eyes at his act. The man was a terrible liar when it came to her, though Xena kept that to herself her gaze followed his wobbly movements.
”Says the man that prefers the shadows to the socialites.” With the movements of someone far more than comfortable in his space as well as her own, she kicked off her boots and moved to pick up his comforter. A snap of her wrists returned it to its home, allowing her the chance to crawl up onto the mattress. Once settled, Xena took the bottle he offered and brought it to her lips. The burn of it reminded her of being sixteen again, having stolen a similar bottle from his older brother’s cellar. They’d gotten smashed, got wrapped up in one another, and ended up nursing hangovers from hell the next morning. It had been amazing and one of her most favorite memories with him.
”Charmer.” Was all she said about his comment concerning her. They were each other's closest confidants, and far more than any level of friendship she’d ever known in the past. Even with her betrothal to his nephew, their dynamic remained unchanged. And it was sure to stay that way for as long as she could keep it. The thought stirred the butterflies again, so she chugged a bit more of the whiskey and shook her head at his words. She never ran into trouble. It smashed into her like an explosion and took out everything within a five mile radius. He knew this, of course, but that wasn’t going to stop her from filling him in on what had happened on the way to the academy.
"His royal assness forced me to take a stupid carriage with the entire entourage. Damn thing busted a wheel about a mile from here. I ended up just walking.” Her trip through the town near the academy had been an interesting one, as had the company she had decided to keep that night. Her mind wondered over the rebel without a cause for a split second before brushing it aside to offer him up the bottle. Had she been with anyone else, she would have happily thought of another man. With him it just felt…wrong. Which was a whole bag of apples she really didn’t want to look too closely at. So, she didn’t.
”I ended up at a pub in town, got into a bit of a tussle, and made a bit of a mess.” There wasn’t an ounce of remorse in her voice, still stuck on the fact that the jerks she’d faced off with had gotten off light. She did, however, expect a bit of a lecture from him. He was her voice of reason, her moral compass, and even in his current state he was sure to have a few thoughts and opinions about her getting into a bar fight her first night on campus.
OOC:
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Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2025 6:37 pm
ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ warm, light, happy... drunk
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "WP why u get into barfights"
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > bedroom
ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Xenia
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Vi, Kieran
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ pajamas
talking - thought
A floating sensation was hitting Graham again and his lips tugged into an amused grin. Xenia knew him well enough to catch his humor and she never ceased to come back with something equally funny. He also knew that she meant every word she said about not leaving him alone with the prissy and privileged. Had she truly been unable to get to Utopia, he reckoned he would have made it through though more worse for wear in the end. That thought didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was that she was there and he wanted the evening to be more enjoyable instead of what it was beforehand. Gods knew she had seen plenty of that from him over the years, this was not the time. Hearing her refer to him as the prettiest girl gave him a laugh.
“You’re being so cute right now, I bet you tell all the pretty girls that.” He teased with a mild stretching in his words, then put his chin over the top of her head. “And that would take one, if not the prettiest one, to know that, right?” Xenia was a warrior but when she wasn’t handing people their asses she was serving up a level of beauty that was never dull, and often distracting. Her eyes were the only shade of light blue that appealed to him, and she wore it best. Even the disapproving sound she made added to an adorability she kept well hidden, at least until parts of his brain lit up and registered the sound for what it was. The scene he turned back around to after putting the book aside was wretched. Graham looked at her and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at first. The reason he knew she would have excelled in their history lesson was the same reason she was disappointed for missing it and his shoulders dropped at seeing and hearing how bad that hurt her. He held back a laugh on her talking about his prowess, as if his time in the simulation had anything like that to brag about. She was already reluctant to speak about that day so it would do neither of them any good.
Graham put up a hand and he sloppily waved it and the subject away. “You don’t know that. I may have had a… a little to drink butIcanstillllll walk a straightline. Still. I could dance it too.” With the same hand he made a pinching gesture as if that summed up everything.
He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Xenia wasn’t completely wrong. Out of habit and once the liquor bottle was out of his hands, he leaned over to pick up her boots then set them together and aside. “Well Warrior Princess we can go into town and get proper drinks and have some fun next chance we get. Is that more to your liking?” Graham took a spot nearby where she made herself at home and sat on the edge with his feet still to the floor, crossing one foot over another. A grin grew over his face to what she called him and he gave her a playful wink in kind. One arm crossed over another in a loose fold over his chest and he closed his eyes, taking in the warm sensation and brief fluttering feeling in his chest. He knew he’d be an idiot to think all of that was from the copious amounts of whiskey he had consumed and had nothing to do with the places his mind went to, but accepted the title without further thought. Hearing Xenia explain what it took for her to get there caused him to look back up and over to her.
Her explanation was easy enough but it was the part about her father and the entourage that had him lipping ‘why’ in response. His brother, another one of the royal assnesses, left him to his own devices and that was perfect for him. He sent his belongings ahead of time and packed light for his trip the day of. For Vi and Kieran he helped when and where they needed. “At least it it was a mile. Did he have you dressing up for the role too?” He knew she didn’t like them, but he couldn’t deny that she was a vision when she was glammed up in a dress, even when she was fuming and ready to rip it off. It was an opinion he kept minimal and mostly to himself for her sake.
Seeing the bottle, he took it from her and wasn’t going to take another swig, but did it anyways. It had done wonders for the racket in his mind so far. It reminded him about how he had been meaning to have his valet come back from Shahiti with some Black Gin. Along with its bite it looked black while being dark violet and when opened or shaken, black fog billowed from it. He remembered one of the first times he had it, funnily enough with the woman sitting beside him. Seventeen was a long time ago and even with all that transpired in their own lives their rhythm always managed to remain mostly unchanged. He took one more drink before offering it up to Xenia again, letting the burn of the liquor fry whatever decided would come to mind before it got the chance.
”I ended up at a pub in town, got into a bit of a tussle, and made a bit of a mess.” Graham lowered his head as he looked at her with an expression of mild surprise. Xenia may have been in a league of her own when it came to being able to take care of herself, but she wasn’t bulletproof and that did not stop him from giving her a lookover that he didn’t bother trying to hide. “Did you get hurt?” He brought his sights up to hers and leaned his head in her direction, blinking a couple of times. He couldn’t recall seeing anything off from the time she first got there, and if he had seen some kind of mark or bruise he would have inquired about it right away. Graham sighed and shook his head, more relieved than anything that her tussle didn’t go further south. There wasn’t a “bit” when it came to her, tussles, and the messes that followed. He huffed a laugh.“You.. you know how to make a debut.” He wished he had been there for it too, regardless of the outcome. “Dare I ask what led to… to the said tussle and what the damages were?” Xenia had tolerance for a lot of things, to a degree, but with the right combination of alcohol, personality, and mood one could expedite her delivery to a matter of seconds.
OOC:
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 11:40 pm
LOCATION: Graham’s dorm xxx COMPANY: Drunk Ducky xxx CLOTHING: Xena’s outfit
"Speaking #7900ac""Thinking #7900ac"
A soft giggle escaped before she could stop it, his antics causing her to lower her guard just the slightest bit. While part of her knew he was just calling her cute because of the alcohol, the rest of her fluffed up a bit over it. She knew what she was, and cute definitely wasn’t it. But with him? Well, she was different. She was more…open. To being vulnerable. To being emotional. To just being…herself. It was a sensation she had never been able to duplicate with another. Not even her own siblings, and she adored them. Or, as much as she could anyway. Graham was the only one that had seen her at her highest high and her lowest low. Through it all, he had stuck with her. Why, she’d never know. Xena was too afraid to ask and risk losing someone precious to her. Again.
”I thought we already determined that you were the prettiest, Ducky.” She chuckled softly and tossed him a teasing wink, doing her best to keep her features schooled in their usual playful expression. Sharp eyes didn’t miss the way he seemed to deflate at her soured retort to his mention of class. It had her cursing herself under her breath, having not meant to pop his little bubble. He didn’t deserve to be the receiving end of her irritation. Xena did her best to shake it off, shifting a bit on his bed to get more relaxed as his words drifted through her head. Her laughter bubbled out of her at his gesture, her grin returning as she ran her eyes over his tipsy form.
”I’d love to watch you try and dance a straight line, handsome. If you can do it, without falling on your a**, I’ll pay you ten Martian drachma.” It was money she knew she’d end up keeping, since he could barely stand up straight let alone dance a line. So it was an easy bet, one she would seriously enjoy watching him lose
As he moved to pick up her boots, she snickered softly under her breath and tipped her head to the side to study him. Even while intoxicated, he was a creature of habit. Unlike her, his things had a place and everything was meant to be in its place. Gods, it made her want to ruffle him all up. To get her hands in that lucious mop of hair of his and…well, there was time for all of that later. Perhaps not tonight’s later, consider his current state, but later all the same. If there was one thing she knew, it was that her Ducky didn’t mind when she gave his hair a tussle now and then. The thought had her grinning once more, the expression brightening further at his mention of going into town.
”Spending my time with you in any way is more to my liking. You know that, silly.” She blew him a kiss, turning a bit to nudge him with her toes as he settled at her side. His question about her attire had her laughter returning, her head shaking to send her ebony locks cascading over her shoulders and down her back. Xena would have loved to have seen her father try and force her into one of those ridiculously hideous monstrosities he called gowns. She’d have torn the damn thing to shreds the instant they broke free of the castle grounds. Hell, she would have even gone so far as to turn it into her own personal flag. Petticoats and corset included.
”Not this time, thankfully. I think he wanted me to go in as more the ‘humbled’ princess rather than the lace and frills kind. Though, it would have been funny to see him and the rest of the servant staff try and get me into one. I’d have happily sent half of them to the hospital for their attempts. Might have helped my mood during the trip.” Another laugh escaped at the images her mind created, knowing exactly who she would have gone after first and how she would have taken them out. The tactical half of her mind began to hum, kicking her powers into gear before she could stop them. It wasn’t until his voice filled her head again that she snapped out of it, blue eyes blinking a bit to clear the battle within her mind to allow her to see him clearly.
”Hm? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” She waved away his concern with a hand, making sure to keep the flutters in her belly from showing on her face. It was a secret thrill to know he worried. That he cared enough to worry about her. No one but Rah and Richie really felt concern for her, and they were blood. It kind of came with the territory. Silently enjoying it, Xena wiggled a bit on the spot and took the bottle of Black Gin back when he offered it to her. His next question, however, turned her features a soft shade of rose and had her eyes looking down to the bottle in her hand.
”Ummm, yeah…There was a bar fight and I sorta, kinda, might have gotten in the middle of it…” As she mumbled through the explanation, she lifted the bottle to her lips and drank deeply from it. The heat turned up the color in her features, turning the rose to a crimson as she gulped down the alcohol. Once, twice, three times before she lowered it back to her lap. She did have some catching up to do, after all. It was the best friend kind of thing to do, right?
”And I possibly could have threatened to cut a man’s tongue from his mouth…And called him a b***h…And caused a bit of property damage that one of our peers paid for, which in turn had me in his debt…kinda.” Yeah, that was all of it. And it sounded a hell of a lot worse out loud than it had in the moment. Xena offered him the bottle rather than ingesting more of it, figuring he might need it a bit more than she did after all of that.
”You’re right, I suppose. I do know how to make a debut.” Gods, he was going to lecture her, wasn’t he? She braced herself for it, eyes peeking up from under her lashes as she waited for the tongue lashing only he was allowed to give her.
OOC:
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2025 2:23 pm
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "Stop saying stupid things, me"
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > bedroom
ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Xenia
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Enzo ("peer")
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ pajamas
talking - thought
He shot a single brow wag to the wink she gave and pretended to mull over what she said about him being prettiest. Graham learned quick as a child he was stinking adorable and it was fun to play up but he couldn’t bring himself to agree with their mutual decision anymore. What a conundrum this was, two painfully beautiful creatures and only one title. ”Wars will be had over this.” His eyes shifted to look at Xenia’s and he put on his best look of defiance before giving into a playful grin. “And I don’t care that you’re from Mars, you won’t win.” A bit of a melodramatic statement sure but one he’d also take pleasure in backing up no matter his state of sobriety.
He held his expression in place and watched her. Seeing how her smile lit up her face allowed him to sigh with relief and he let it trickle out so that she wouldn’t catch it. His tactless remark only dampened things momentarily, thank the gods. The way she looked and sounded in front of him, so spirited and full of laughter, always held his attention in some way. Their friendship started through an alliance of their respective kingdoms but over time transformed into one that was their own. They celebrated and confided in one another. When she crumpled he did his best to be what she needed, and not just because she did the same for him when he needed it. It didn’t get past him that she was doing that right now by drinking with him. Graham told himself to say something about it in the morning. He pushed his lips together, not trusting himself to stop at that in his current state. Besides, he had a bet to settle.
“And I’d love to take that off your hands.” She was as sold on being impressed by his drunken dancing skills as he was willing to demonstrate them. He wasn’t that tipsy. Not at all. He didn’t misstep as he stopped at a random point on a floor seam, nor did he proclaim that it “didn’t count” either. The dance was simple enough, a country dance he’d known since being in single digits. The first few steps were not his best work but he still managed to glide his feet as gracefully as a newborn giraffe. It was on the second set of steps that he glided forward right into the floor. He looked up at Xenia from where he laid but couldn’t hold the stare because of the snicker that came out of him.
Though wobbly he was no worse for wear and after pulling himself up and back together he took the spot beside Xenia. The nudge from her foot broke the brief stupor he’d fallen into, and the space across his nose and cheeks felt tingly and warmer than the rest of his body. Good times were always had when they went out, even when one of them had to drag the other out of the establishments that were solely responsible for causing trouble. Graham put a hand to his mouth and blew a kiss back to her before letting it sink to the bed. He looked forward to those times and to having access to her more often.
”And I like taking your time any chance I get. We’re stuck here now and I am going to make you so sick of me.” Graham said with a laugh. He watched how freely her hair danced down and around her. It always felt silky between his fingers and he imagined it would be no different if he put hands to her dark tresses now. She didn’t have to deal with a dress this time around but to be able to tear one apart and from around her was a wild thought that had crossed his mind at least one other time. He curled a couple of fingers into the comforter and refocused on her and her story, letting the imagery of her decking half a dozen servants take over and cause him to huff a laugh. ”Have they ever really succeeded, at all? Since you turned ten?”
He watched as his bestie appeared to zone out and wondered if it was the tactician in her that ignited or if the alcohol was hitting her like it was for him now. His eyes traced the curve of one of her ears and he looked at each piece of jewelry that decorated it, then did the same in reverse to the other. “Xena…” He called out to her and flashed a lopsided grin.
Though mumbled, he picked up on what she said about the bar fight, and he leaned back to make more room for Xenia to take a drink. His gaze became puzzled as she put down noticeably more alcohol on her turn with the bottle. Maybe she hadn’t dropped the biggest detail yet? He made nods of his head at each transgression she listed but it was the details involving one of their classmates that drew the most attention. Could they be trusted? Graham looked at the bottle as she offered it then took it from her gently. He hummed. ”Hmm. You didn’t cut it out, but the b***h must of done something to deserve it, right?” He took a drink from the bottle, stopped, but then took one more swig halfway through moving to put it down as a ‘bestie tax.’ His guess was that he might have offered a warning himself if that were the case, once he culled out of the b***h what he held most dear.
The part about the property damage and debt bugged him more than anything at that point. ”Unless someone says something, it sounds settled. Do you think there’s a chance of that?”
He looked from the bottle and back to her, seeing Xenia’s blues gaze his way and felt how they tugged at his chest. Hearing her repeat what he said back to him, and how uneasy it sounded in her voice, he closed his eyes and took a breath. He had muddled his own words and said something he didn’t mean, and that got to her too. ”What I meant to say was you got screwed over. Everything came to a head and— wait, let me…” Graham pulled his legs up and shifted so that he was on his side, head propped up with one arm beside her. He glanced up, feeling more comfortable taking in the sight of her flushed face from there. The woozy feeling in his head from the shift came and went. He held out his closed free hand, then opened it with a soft explosion sound effect. ”and you kinda ended up in the tussle and you’re okay and I don’t have to watch you struggle with crutches.” He held back a laugh.
OOC:
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 6:24 pm
LOCATION: Graham’s dorm xxx COMPANY: Drunk Ducky xxx CLOTHING: Xena’s outfit
"Speaking #7900ac""Thinking #7900ac"
Once more, his words pulled her laughter from her effortlessly. Gods, he was such a goob. And the only person that she was truly herself around. Even her siblings didn’t get to see every side of her. It was just better that way, after all. Of course, it was more that she didn’t want to share this part of her with anyone but him. A thought that she refused to ever look too closely at. She just hid it tucked away, along with everything else that had to do with him.
”Whatever you say, Ducky.” Leaving it at that, she moved to get more comfortable in his bed and watched his attempt at walking. The little scene helped pull her mood back to how it had been before the mention of the class she’d missed. How did he do that? Have the uncanny ability to make her feel better without even trying? Granted, he was just trying to dance while drunk, but it was more than enough to make her chest lightening from the weight it had held a moment before. His little slip ups added to the comforting emotions and had her giggling softly in response.
”That totally counted.” She grinned and clapped at his royal fail, having always loved being able to see this side of him. The bit of her Ducky that no one else was privy to. Especially when it rewarded her with seeing him blush at her flirting antics. He was too damn adorable for his own good, something she would have happily voiced if she thought it would get him to blush even more. He already knew her view of him, so she figured it was a waste of breath. This time, anyway. Instead, Xena did her best to keep her own features from warming at the returned kiss he blew her way. He was already taking over the role of rosy cheeked between them, so it was only right to keep herself in control. For now.
”I highly doubt I will ever get sick of you, Ducky. Almost twenty years of friendship should be proof enough of that.” The reminder that they had been close since she’d been around five was still a shock to her system. The circumstances had been a normal one among the royals, and yet, she’d ended up attached to him rather than the person she’d been promised to. Granted, her former fiance hadn’t been the most forthcoming with his feelings, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Whatever the case was, Xena was just glad she still had him even after losing the match she had been paired up with at birth.
His comment about her handling those that had tried to dress her in the past had her laughter bubbling freely from her lips once more. Yeah, he had a good point there. It took quite a few people to get her gussied up, and most of the time it involved a threat or a bribe from her father. Usually in the form of having to do with her siblings or the man sitting beside her. While Xena knew her father was blind to most of her extra curricular activities, he wasn’t stupid or slow enough to have missed her attachment to Graham. And so long as their friendship didn’t hinder his desire to ally with Shahiti, the king paid it no mind. Unless he wanted to get her to do something she really didn’t want to, of course. The thought threatened to sour her mood, so she lifted the bottle between her thighs to her lips to try and wash it away.
The way his lips formed her name sent a thrill racing through her body. Damn it, that wasn’t fair! She was puddy in his hands when he used that tone on her. Though she would never admit it, she loved the way he said her name. He usually used a nickname, as she did, unless absolutely necessary. Or while they were partaking in a different kind of nighttime affair. Was that why it always made her want to stretch like a cat in sunlight? All warm and content, with that fuzzy feeling in her head? Whatever it was, it had her fidgeting again as she waited for his reaction to her confession.
”Yeah. I won’t get into the details, though, since I handled it myself. And, no, I am not going to tell you where he was or what he looked like. I know what you’ll do with that information.” Xena shot him a look from beneath her lashes as her gaze returned to him. His powers rivaled hers when it came to dealing with prisoners or those that had wronged them, and he would surely destroy the b*****d faster than she had with her hands alone. Since the last thing she wanted was for him to get into trouble for her, she shot him a playful grin before taking back the bottle he had stolen from her.
At his question, she found herself shaking her head. Enzo hadn’t seemed the type to use her debt to him over her head. Granted, she knew that she couldn’t stand to let something linger between them, so she would eventually have to pay up. How, she wasn’t sure. Xena would deal with all of that when the time came. Which, of course, she would make sure to run by the man at her side before doing so.
”Nah. The guy seemed okay with it all, and even went so far as to tell me that I didn’t owe him anything. Like that’s gonna stop me, though.” It didn’t matter to her in the least if Enzo didn’t believe her to be in his debt. She felt that way, so the punk was going to get something in return. Fair was fair, after all.
The sudden shift in his position brought her back to reality and had her arching a dark brow at his words. Her gaze followed his every move and her smile once more returned at the way he demonstrated an explosion with his hand. She supposed he did have a point, one she should have seen coming considering who she was talking to. Relieved that he wasn’t upset with her actions, Xena turned on the bed to mirror his position. She set the bottle to lean against her stomach, one hand still on it while the other supported her head. Her new position allowed her to run her foot absently along his calf, needing a bit of contact the more alcohol she got into her system.
”Like I would struggle. I’d make those crutches my b***h and use them to my advantage, we both know that.” She said it in such a matter of fact way that she didn’t bother to wait for his response. Xena simply took her drink from the bottle for the umpteenth time and reveled in the heat that bloomed through her petite form. ”Alright, I think we’ve talked enough about my entrance to the academy. What all have you learned about these prissy snobs we are being forced to be around? Anyone worth knowing shown themselves yet?”
OOC:
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2025 4:51 am
 
talking ★ thinking
Her words reflected one of the things that he felt when it came to her and he paused as he took them in. Considering he was twenty-four and halfway to twenty-five, Graham’s friendship with the Martian Princess spanned as far back as his earliest memories. It didn’t take them as long to get to where they presently stood though. Xenia was one of the few unwavering figures in his life and still found him tolerable when he acted a damn fool or got a stick up his a** about something. Not that it was only her familiarity or reliability that made her something dear to him. A smile pulled at the corners of his lips and his voice dipped into a quiet tone. ”We’ll get to forty, I’ll make sure of that. There’s nothing more I’d like than for you to say that again when we hit that mark.” Graham could count on his hands the number of people he’d grown sick of over the years. Xenia had never been assigned a finger.
She knew him too well to answer a question he didn’t even breathe out yet, and Graham returned a displeasured gaze to the one she was shooting him from under those long lashes. No matter how long he stared and had this silent conversation with her, he knew she wasn’t going to let him know anything about the man in question. And he wasn’t going to draw it out of her either. Not because he was scared of getting stabbed again – she’d put a knife through his flesh at least twice in their lifetime and he had more marks and scars to show he could withstand another. She handled it. He’d leave it alone. There was no need for him to light the bar up and watch it go down in a blaze of glory with the fuel and matches still in his hands. But if he ever needed to, that would be the pre-show entertainment. Graham let out a short, hushed laugh. ”And you call me a party pooper. You’re going to be the death of me.”
To her little impish grin he closed his eyes briefly, sighed, and shook his head. He couldn’t hold his own look when she smiled like that currently. Really, if he had ever been troubled by anything from her, it was few and far and in-between and only for a trivial amount of time. She meant too much to get petty and drag anything out. ”Fine fine. But if you weren’t able to handle it, you’d tell me then right?” Graham gave her a slight pout of his lips while twirling a lock of her hair around one of his fingers.
He watched still and silently from where he laid on the bed, taking in how Xenia bounced and wiggled until she made herself comfortable. The feel of her foot along his calf did not go unnoticed and he didn’t move it out of her reach. It was a simple touch that shouldn’t have sent such a rush up his leg, but it did. With how she was mirroring him and did it so near, it made hugging her easier. Graham wrapped an arm around to the back of her waist and pulled her in until the bottle of liquor was loosely between them. The arm at his head moved to the back of her head, and he didn’t stop himself from lacing his fingers into her long hair. She was safe and she was there, and that meant more to him than going at her over a settled bar fight. A more sober Graham would have said more, inquired further about their classmate or questioned if she believed her dad would get wind of what happened, but that wasn’t going to happen that night.
Instead, he took several seconds to press his lips to Xenia’s forehead before putting his chin to it, held her in a hug, and just took it all in. She always smelled delicate, a quiet and embarrassing observation he'd never admit to noticing willingly, and one that was also the main reason he pulled out the book on Luna in the first place. She said she was not sick of him, but a darker voice sometimes tried to convince him otherwise. That he didn’t deserve the attention of the raven-haired angel that he was holding, so instead he gave Xenia’s waist a squeeze in his arm, his way of telling it to shut the hell up and be gone. He was too inebriated to let himself fall down a rabbit hole anymore than he had so far. The only falling he planned on doing was falling asleep, be it from the alcohol knocking him out, exhaustion, or some combination of both. He didn’t have to ask or offer that Xenia stay, it went without saying that she could if she so desired this far into their friendship.
”I hope you’re not planning on walking back to your room tonight. Not with as much as you've had to drink and this curfew, Warrior Princess.” He insinuated it anyway with an amused crinkling in the corners of his eyes. Maybe for all the youngsters it would work, but he didn’t see how the school could enforce a curfew on those of them well into adulthood at this point. Graham pulled his hands away from her and let his head fall into his arm that folded under it.
”I promise you, it hasn’t been anything more grand than what I’ve said in letters.” Xenia was turning the questions onto him now and he rolled his eyes, not at her but the thought of some of what he’d seen so far. ”Not all of them are prissy, believe it or not. But there are some that just scream ‘prissy.’” He thought there would be more but he was proved pleasantly wrong. ”Mary is here from ‘Hiti, Kieran’s sister-in-law… or former… sister... in-law...” He didn’t know if his bestie knew their duchess, or remembered the next person that came to mind. ”Arric is also here. Charlene is kind and resilient. Fiorella I knew funnily enough as a cat before finding out she was a person who could turn into animals, and she’s not boring in the least. There’s others I haven’t gotten to really get to know yet. Everyone is here. Everyone.” He rambled and ended with some sarcasm and a knowing look for her. Alore, his Kingdom’s established nemesis, was well represented. All of the other kingdoms too, all the other fourteen and who knew who she was looking forward to or not looking forward to seeing. There were other people too, one in particular tied to duchy business he didn’t usually bring up with Xenia.
Graham watched as she took another swig of alcohol then closed his eyes for a moment as his own buzz swept across his body. ”You can have the rest, I think I need to stop for now…” He rolled his lips together to hold back a laugh. He shifted then traced his foot along the side of one of hers.
OOC:
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: Utopia - Bedroom ★ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ: Xenia ★ ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ: multiple people
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ: pajamas ★ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ: "I need to let the alcohol catch up.I can watch her in the meantime..."
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